Interesting comments, jnm. I can't help looking forward to the Hong Kong episode too, especially because I had the opportunity to visit there some 20ish years ago when a brother of mine was stationed there, and it's intrigued me ever since. I wouldn't mind watching reruns of "I'll Have What Phil's Having" either, just because of the great places he's gone so far.

On my morning dog walks, I sometimes joins steps with an older neighbor with whom I often swap news of grocery store sales and recipe ideas. He is hardly a TV watcher at all, much less a cooking show watcher, so I was surprised when he mentioned that the TV chef he most enjoys watching is Hubert Keller. Elegant plating coupled with a clear, friendly, straightforward explanation that makes you feel you could do the same thing. I like that and was pleasantly surprised to hear that my neighbor did too.

We have been enjoying Luke Nguyen's Vietnam and Greater Mekong series. Luke annoyed me at first, but he definitely grew on me and the structure of the show is both a great cooking and travel show. This is fertile ground that is rarely plowed or maybe I am just enamored with southeast Asia.

A Bite of China was also very interesting, if not really a cooking show. It had some awkward moralizing, particularly in the second season, but if you can get past that it's a very well done show. It really made me wish there were more resources on the various regional cuisines of China. Going by what is available, you would think there was only Cantonese and Sichuan food, with a sidenote saying Hunan food is like Sichuan food without the peppercorns.

Speaking of Vietnam, botd, I recently discovered Martin Yan's show on Vietnamese cooking. Learned some interesting things. And I think I could do a Martin Yan imitation now ("beeeeautiful! beeeautiful!"). I do admire his enthusiasm. And man! That guy's got some crazy knife skills.

I've not seen the two shows you mentioned (Luke Nguyen's Vietnam and Greater Mekong and Bite of China). What channel or channels are they on?

Only for those who understand German (or just enjoy watching something without understanding what anyone is saying -- also very relaxing, I hear), there's Deutschlands Bester Bäcker

The goal of the show is to award a prize to Germany's best baker. The thing that makes if fun: each week, they travel to a different region of Germany and visit actual bakeries. They first do a random-sample test of some item from the bakery case or bread rack, then come back to taste the "specialty of the house," and only then do 3 teams of bakers compete by making a specific set of items. All of the bakers are experienced, some of them having worked in the trade since they were 14 or 15 years old. Many of the bakers describe the time and effort (e.g. traveling to Switzerland to study with another baker) they've put into developing just the right recipe for a certain kind of bread that may take 2 or 3 days to make. Or the lengths they go to in order to get the perfect ingredients. This show may explain why there is no German version of "Cakewrecks."

The baking and the judging are all based on ideas of craftsmanship and skill (the judges talk about things like the pore density of one baker's sourdough rye, or the exact color and texture of the bread crust). If you don't love baking, this would be very dull. There's no interpersonal drama at all. The only drama involves ingredients, recipes, and baking times. I love it.

Katie wrote:Speaking of Vietnam, botd, I recently discovered Martin Yan's show on Vietnamese cooking. Learned some interesting things. And I think I could do a Martin Yan imitation now ("beeeeautiful! beeeautiful!"). I do admire his enthusiasm. And man! That guy's got some crazy knife skills.

I've not seen the two shows you mentioned (Luke Nguyen's Vietnam and Greater Mekong and Bite of China). What channel or channels are they on?

Thanks for the recommendation. I like Martin Yan and I love Vietnam, so I will have to check this out.

Luke Nguyen's shows originally aired on SBS an Australian public network, I think. It also picks up a lot of BBC Two cooking show. Either way, they seem to have a lot of interesting cooking shows as part of their mission of representing the diverse cultures of Australia. So on my list to watch is David Thompson's Thai Street Food. Madhur Jaffrey has a show on Indian cooking. SBS posts a lot of the recipes for free on their website and a lot of these shows eventually get quality cookbooks that correspond to the show. It's a nice little model.

BBC Two is also a treasure trove for this stuff. Rick Stein's shows are usually very good.

Katie wrote:I've really enjoyed the episodes I've seen so far of "I'll Have What Phil's Having." Not really a cooking show; it's a food-centered travel show.

That's exactly right, Katie. Phil Rosenthal's premise is good, the camerawork is really, really nice, but boy, I sure would like to see more substance. His constant wide-eyed 'best-I-ever-ate' countenance is somewhat cloying and borderline distracting. And the problem is, that idiosyncrasy of his is getting more prominent. He kept it in check more or less in Tokyo for his debut episode, Florence was pretty much over the top, and last night's Paris was Phil simply being out-and-out weird. As I said, the production work absolutely saves the show for him.

I had high hopes for this show, but Phil's incessant mugging pretty much made it unwatchable for me. Sad, because a lot of the content is really interesting.

MariaTheresa wrote:Only for those who understand German (or just enjoy watching something without understanding what anyone is saying -- also very relaxing, I hear), there's Deutschlands Bester Bäcker

The goal of the show is to award a prize to Germany's best baker. The thing that makes if fun: each week, they travel to a different region of Germany and visit actual bakeries. They first do a random-sample test of some item from the bakery case or bread rack, then come back to taste the "specialty of the house," and only then do 3 teams of bakers compete by making a specific set of items. All of the bakers are experienced, some of them having worked in the trade since they were 14 or 15 years old. Many of the bakers describe the time and effort (e.g. traveling to Switzerland to study with another baker) they've put into developing just the right recipe for a certain kind of bread that may take 2 or 3 days to make. Or the lengths they go to in order to get the perfect ingredients. This show may explain why there is no German version of "Cakewrecks."

The baking and the judging are all based on ideas of craftsmanship and skill (the judges talk about things like the pore density of one baker's sourdough rye, or the exact color and texture of the bread crust). If you don't love baking, this would be very dull. There's no interpersonal drama at all. The only drama involves ingredients, recipes, and baking times. I love it.

Another interesting foreign show is Le Meilleur Patissier, episodes available on Youtube (in French), more like a competition show, but using relatively young professionals rather than amateurs. Sort of a cross between Top Chef, The Great British Baking Show, and this German one.

stevez wrote:Has anyone seen Thailand Kitchen of the World hosted by Arun Sampanthavivat and a mugging Steve Dolinski? I'm not lovin' it.

Yeah, Dolinsky doesn't addd much.

The whole thing seems like a vanity project. There's not much worthwhile content that I can see. I stopped watching it after two episodes. In fact, according to the WTTW website, it might have been canceled already.

MariaTheresa wrote:Only for those who understand German (or just enjoy watching something without understanding what anyone is saying -- also very relaxing, I hear), there's Deutschlands Bester Bäcker

The goal of the show is to award a prize to Germany's best baker. The thing that makes if fun: each week, they travel to a different region of Germany and visit actual bakeries. They first do a random-sample test of some item from the bakery case or bread rack, then come back to taste the "specialty of the house," and only then do 3 teams of bakers compete by making a specific set of items. All of the bakers are experienced, some of them having worked in the trade since they were 14 or 15 years old. Many of the bakers describe the time and effort (e.g. traveling to Switzerland to study with another baker) they've put into developing just the right recipe for a certain kind of bread that may take 2 or 3 days to make. Or the lengths they go to in order to get the perfect ingredients. This show may explain why there is no German version of "Cakewrecks."

The baking and the judging are all based on ideas of craftsmanship and skill (the judges talk about things like the pore density of one baker's sourdough rye, or the exact color and texture of the bread crust). If you don't love baking, this would be very dull. There's no interpersonal drama at all. The only drama involves ingredients, recipes, and baking times. I love it.

Another interesting foreign show is Le Meilleur Patissier, episodes available on Youtube (in French), more like a competition show, but using relatively young professionals rather than amateurs. Sort of a cross between Top Chef, The Great British Baking Show, and this German one.

Thanks for the tip! Of course, now you've got me started on looking for more of those shows on youtube. There goes my morning off work . . . : )

I watched Rosenthal's Paris episode as my first (and last) viewing of the show. Rosenthal thinks he's still writing for a cheezy tv sitcom, and acts it out perfectly. Inane, pandering, and stupid. I got twenty minutes into the show and hit the "off" button.

The Martin Yan Viet episodes on youtube, on the other hand, are fab! Tnx so much for the suggestion!!

Geo

Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

I had never heard of "I'll have what Phil's having" until reading this thread, and then his Paris episode popped up on television yesterday. I guess different strokes for different folks -- I enjoyed it. It's more lighthearted, less serious than a lot of food travel shows, but the photography and scenery were terrific, the food mouth-watering, guidance from David Lebovitz, etc. I'll be checking out future episodes. I much prefer Bourdain's shows (even if I don't love Bourdain), but I still found the Paris episode full of solid content.

I find the pastrami to be the most sensual of all the salted, cured meats. (Seinfeld)

BR wrote:I had never heard of "I'll have what Phil's having" until reading this thread, and then his Paris episode popped up on television yesterday. I guess different strokes for different folks -- I enjoyed it. It's more lighthearted, less serious than a lot of food travel shows, but the photography and scenery were terrific, the food mouth-watering, guidance from David Lebovitz, etc. I'll be checking out future episodes. I much prefer Bourdain's shows (even if I don't love Bourdain), but I still found the Paris episode full of solid content.

I agree. The content, including the photography, is excellent. I also think the writing is solid. For example, I thought his comments in the Italy episode captured the essence of the place extraordinarily well. As I watched, I thought, "he really gets it."

Phil bugged me a bit at first but he possesses a sincere charm that's beginning to win me over. I also think his manner coaxes a lot out of the people who are featured on the show, which is definitely to the viewer's benefit. His apparent lack of palate sophistication takes the show in a direction that is refreshing and distinctive, even while being more focused on mainstream spots than off-the-beaten-path-type places.

=R=

Why don't you take these profiteroles and put them up your shi'-ta-holes? --Jemaine & Bret

OK, OK, maybe I gave up on Phil too soon. I'll watch it again. Agreed about the production values. Might have been my problem that I take Paris tooo personally--I lived there for a year, and have spent beaucoup time there since. His sit-com'ish manner rubbed me the wrong way.

Geo

Sooo, you like wine and are looking for something good to read? Maybe *this* will do the trick!

Katie wrote:I've really enjoyed the episodes I've seen so far of "I'll Have What Phil's Having." Not really a cooking show; it's a food-centered travel show.

That's exactly right, Katie. Phil Rosenthal's premise is good, the camerawork is really, really nice, but boy, I sure would like to see more substance.

Last night's episode in LA was great. The segment at Huckleberry with Zoe Nathan was especially good and he covered an enormous amount of ground in the episode. It's a nice mix of schtick, food travelogue and cooking (not a lot of detail on cooking, but enough to inspire you). I was ready to book a flight to LA halfway through the program.

He was talking deli with Norman Lear at Langer's and discussed the logistics of the original owner trying to ship rye bread to his Palm Springs deli in the '40's without the bread losing it's crisp crust - the solution (that's still used today) was parbaking. Every loaf is finished in-store.

tcdup wrote:I like "I'll Have What Phil's Having". But then again, I really love travelogues and especially love travelogues that focus on food....

I really like the show's website, because it lists the places he goes. And I also like his conversations with his parents. I especially liked the Italy show, too.

I'm heading to Spain next May, so the Barcelona show was of particular help!

I only caught the one episode so far (will view the others ASAP), but I did enjoy the little cooking bits, Ludo making an omelette with "French Velveeta" and Zoe Nathan making her kouign amann. It doesn't have the depth of traditional cooking shows, but he's clearly not just picking Rachel Ray or Guy Fieri "popular" spots.

Has anyone mentioned Dining with the Chef on Create TV? I know practically nothing about Japanese cooking except how to make miso soup, but I've gotten some very practical and interesting tips and recipes from this show.